1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to healthcare information technology products, and in particular, it relates to methods for promoting electronic medical records in medical practices.
2. Related Art
Medical records are essential to every medical practice, and the vast majority of these records are maintained in paper form using a system that has remained unchanged for decades. However, with the passage of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the United States government has encouraged physicians to adopt healthcare information technology (HIT) modules, such as electronic medical records (EMRs), to operate their practices by 2010. Further, there is speculation that legislation may mandate a deadline by which physicians who transact business with governmental healthcare agencies must adopt HIT modules within their practices. The impact of such legislation would be widely felt, as patients supported by governmental healthcare agencies such as Medicare form a large part of many medical practices.
Electronic medical records (EMRs) possess a number of advantages over traditional, handwritten medical records. EMRs are inherently portable, and as such, they are easily transferred from physician to physician when a patient relocates. The accessibility of EMRs also makes them attractive for use in hospital settings in which a number of physicians or practitioners may view and modify a single set of records. Further, recent technological advantages, such as tablet-based notebook computers, powerful wireless internet connections, and longer-life batteries, have made EMRs more accessible to physicians in private practice.
However, significant barriers block the wider adoption of EMRs within many medical practices, and one such barrier is the incorporation of a patient's paper medical record into a corresponding EMR. The conversion of these physical records into EMRs is an expensive and time-consuming process that must accurately capture the content of the physical record. As many of these records contain extensive handwritten content that may have been generated by different healthcare professionals over the life span of the patient, some of the content may be illegible following conversion. Further, the material may exist in any number of formats, sizes, media types and qualities, which further complicates accurate conversion.